Top Candidate for a Post at Europe’s Central Bank Is a Woman

FRANKFURT — The decision by Jörg Asmussen to leave the European Central Bank will deprive the policy-setting body of a financial expert who had helped sell its policies to a skeptical German public, despite his occasional disagreements with Mario Draghi, the bank’s president.

But Mr. Asmussen’s departure — to take a job with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new government in Berlin — opens the door for the appointment of a woman to the otherwise all-male top echelon of monetary decision-making in the euro zone.

Berlin is likely to nominate Sabine Lautenschläger, a member of the executive board of the Bundesbank, the German central bank, as Mr. Asmussen’s successor, according to German press reports. The reports were confirmed by a person with knowledge of the discussions, who was not authorized to speak about the appointment publicly.

Over the weekend, German news media reported that Mr. Asmussen would become a deputy secretary in the German Labor Ministry. The job is markedly less influential than his current position as a member of the executive board of the central bank. However, Mr. Asmussen said that he wanted to be closer to his family, who continued to live in Berlin after he joined the bank in Frankfurt at the start of 2012.

“The seat of the E.C.B. in Frankfurt with my family with my two very young children in Berlin were not compatible over the long term,” Mr. Asmussen, 47, said in a statement. “There are no other reasons for this step.”

Photo

Berlin is likely to nominate Sabine Lautenschläger, a member of the executive board of the Bundesbank, as Jörg Asmussen’s successor.Credit
Lisi Niesner/Reuters

Ms. Lautenschläger, an expert on banking regulation, has not made her views on monetary policy known. But it would be surprising if she deviated much from Bundesbank doctrine, which Mr. Asmussen has also espoused and which emphasizes the European Central Bank’s duty to fight inflation.

Ms. Lautenschläger could be nominated by Ms. Merkel by the end of the week. Her appointment would require the approval of leaders of other European governments, as well as the European Parliament — a process that would probably last until February. The E.C.B. Governing Council, which includes the six-member executive board and the heads of the 17 central banks in the euro zone, has not had a female member since Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell left the executive board at the end of her term in 2011.

Mr. Asmussen often helped communicate policy to Germans fearful that the E.C.B. was a conduit for transferring their wealth to stricken countries like Greece. In contrast to much of the German economics establishment, Mr. Asmussen was publicly supportive of bank measures to subdue the euro zone crisis that were unpopular in Germany.

He defended central bank policies in testimony to Germany’s highest court in June after citizens’ groups challenged their constitutionality. He presented a counterweight to officials like Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, who were highly critical of the E.C.B. The court has not yet ruled on the legal challenge.

Mr. Asmussen joined the bank board after his predecessor, Jürgen Stark, resigned because of his dismay over central bank bond-buying, which he and other German economists regard as a violation of a prohibition against central bank financing of governments. Mr. Asmussen’s more moderate views helped prevent Germany, the euro zone’s largest country, from becoming completely alienated from the bank.

Ms. Lautenschläger’s expertise in banking regulation could be useful as the E.C.B. prepares to assume its role late next year as the top bank overseer for the euro zone. But her nomination could also invite criticism that she has not been tough enough on German banks.

Ms. Lautenschläger has been reluctant to impose stricter limits on banks’ use of borrowed money to conduct business, a position that has put her at odds with United States regulators in debates about international bank standards.

The Bundesbank declined to comment on whether Ms. Lautenschläger would replace Mr. Asmussen.

Mr. Asmussen’s new job in Berlin is, at least on paper, less important than the job he held before joining the E.C.B. Then, he was a deputy secretary in the Finance Ministry and one of the lead German representatives in European efforts to control the euro zone crisis at its height from 2010 to 2012.

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

In his new position under Labor Minister Andrea Nahles, Mr. Asmussen will oversee the introduction of a national minimum wage. The Social Democrats made the minimum wage one of their demands in negotiations to form a government with Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats.

If Mr. Asmussen, a Social Democrat, is able to manage the transition to a minimum wage, he could position himself for a cabinet post in the future.

Though Mr. Asmussen avoided public dissent as a member of the E.C.B. board, there were occasional signs of tension between him and Mr. Draghi, the bank’s president.

Early this year, Mr. Asmussen represented the bank in talks with the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund over aid to Cyprus, a member of the euro zone. They worked out a plan that would have forced depositors to finance much of a bailout of the country’s banks. After an outcry, they revised the plan. Mr. Draghi later called the plan “not smart,” an implicit rebuke to Mr. Asmussen.

In a statement late Sunday, Mr. Draghi said that Mr. Asmussen “has been a tremendous help in shaping the monetary policy in the past two years while successfully addressing many other challenges.” He added, “I will personally miss him.”

Melissa Eddy contributed reporting from Berlin.

A version of this article appears in print on December 17, 2013, on Page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: Top Candidate for a Post at Europe’s Central Bank Is a Woman. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe